First it was the Kilchoman distillery, they where very busy with that. From that time nobody ever heard from them again.And now the same people are setting up the Ladybank distillery in Fife(near Ladybank). Now they give you the oppertunity to become an investor for the sum of 1850 GBP. Will you ever see your money back again?, what happend to the investors of the Kilchoman distillery? Did they got their money returned? Will the Kilchoman ever exist? Or will the Ladybank distillery dissaper too, like the Kilchoman distillery? After all its the same people who where involved with Kilchoman distillery. WHAT IS HAPPENING???

Currie, who built the Isle of Arran distillery with his father in 1995 - the newest distillery in Scotland - is converting farm buildings at Ladybank, Fife, with production of a range of specialist whiskies on track to begin next year.

Aside from the ability to produce small batches of whiskies with specialist finishes or blends, Currie is offering part-ownership of the distillery through a life membership scheme. Currie said: "At the very top end of the market, the connoisseur wants to be offered something really special and bespoke - not only in a bottle but when he visits Scotland to learn about the single malt distilling process."

"While many distilleries offer a visitor experience for larger numbers, at Ladybank we will focus on looking after special guests and members, who often have a more demanding agenda."

Currie has already targeted high-spending whisky connoisseurs in New York and a marketing team from Ladybank distillers is currently in California. The first 250 members of the Ladybank Club have already been signed up, Currie said.

The connoisseur wants to be offered something special and bespoke - not only in a bottle but when he visits Scotland

For a one-off fee of £1,850, members will have life-long rights to their own private stock of whisky and a part-share in the still and associated buildings.

Currie insisted that he already had the £1 million financing to get the plans off the ground, but ultimately he hoped to recruit 1,250 members to the scheme.

He added that all the commercial risk of the project lay in the hands of a limited company.

Edradour, currently Scotland’s smallest distillery, was part of Pernod Ricard’s massive drinks empire for more than 20 years, but was taken over by the Edinburgh-based firm in July.

The news also comes as the whisky industry increasingly focuses on the upper end of the market, producing more specialist malts and premium blends - particularly for export markets.

Currie said just 25,000 litres of whisky will be produced each year from the Ladybank still.

The Ladybank Club’s members will also be offered the chance to be involved in creating small batches of malt whisky and a range of special products. Courses on whisky distilling will also be available to non-members.

The maltings and distillery will restore historic mill buildings on the Ladybank estate. Sir Robert Spencer-Nairn, whose family have looked after the estate for four generations, said: "The new distillery will help with our responsibilities of looking after these charming old farm buildings.

"We cannot use them today for farming activity and had been struggling to identify a suitable use for some years."

I must begin, first of all, that the same people are not exactly the same people who where behind the Kilchoman Project. For a moment I thought so, and maybe some others too?, but they where only investigating the chances of survival of the distillery, and getting the funds together for the next decade. Well they could build the Kilchoman distillery, but could not sustain for the next period, wich is a shame.

The Ladybank distillery seems to be completely different, especially when you read the names behind this project, such as Andrew Curie(ex Arran), and then the fact they try to get a fund raising, by becomming a lifetime member in this project.But getting 1250 people together, who are paying 1850 GBP, that must be quite a lot of work. And then there's still the whisky school who eventually has to make its contribution too, to get it all done, and to sustain the little business, and many other factors who are involved with that.

It seems to be an interesting project, so if any of you happen to have by accident some 1850 GBP left, why not become a member. Anyway it's not my time to step in to, because I have these days that I just havn't got 1850 GBP in my wallet....sorry...

So will there be a slight chance that more of these projects wil emerge, and that some more distillerie who once where lost, will be brought back to life????

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